Kamala Harris said she’s long supported legalizing weed. What her California record shows

Vice President Kamala Harris said in an interview for the "All the Smoke" podcast released on Monday she has long supported marijuana legalization.

As a federal legislator, Harris has worked to decriminalize weed. But as the district attorney of San Francisco and California attorney general, the Democratic presidential nominee’s stance was less clear.

“I just feel strongly people should not be going to jail for smoking weed. And we know historically what that has meant and who has gone to jail,” Harris said during the 47-minute episode of "All the Smoke," a podcast hosted by former NBA and Golden State Warrior players Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson.

“Second, I just think we have come to a point where we have to understand that we need to legalize it and stop criminalizing this behavior,” she said. “Actually, this is not a new position for me. I have felt for a long time we need to legalize it, so that’s where I am on that.”

—McClatchy Washington Bureau

No more ‘sell by’ stickers. California Gov. Gavin Newsom signs bill standardizing food package labels

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — When does that food actually expire? We’ll soon know. California Gov. Gavin Newsom over the weekend signed Assembly Bill 660 into law, which standardizes food package labeling.

It will have to read either “best if used by” to denote peak product freshness or “use by” to denote when a food product is no longer safe to eat. The law also bans retailers from using public-facing “sell by” stickers that simply denotes when stock should be rotated and which can confuse some consumers.

“Having to wonder whether our food is still good is an issue that we all have struggled with,” said bill author Assemblywoman Jacqui Irwin, D-Ventura, in a statement. She said that the signing of AB 660 “is a monumental step to keep money in the pockets of consumers while helping the environment and the planet.”

According to Californians Against Waste, an advocacy group that co-sponsored AB 660, grocery store shelves today have more than 50 differently phrased date labels.

—The Sacramento Bee

California law bans college legacy and donor admissions, including USC, Stanford

A new law banning legacy and donor admissions at private California universities, including USC and Stanford — among the handful of schools that admit a significant number of children of alumni or donors — was signed Monday by Gov. Gavin Newsom, who said the action will promote equal educational opportunities.

“In California, everyone should be able to get ahead through merit, skill, and hard work,” Newsom said in a statement. “The California Dream shouldn’t be accessible to just a lucky few, which is why we’re opening the door to higher education wide enough for everyone, fairly.”

The law affects a small number of private institutions in the state that consider family connections in admissions. Others that currently embrace the practice include Santa Clara, Claremont McKenna and Harvey Mudd colleges.

California State University and the University California do not give preference in admissions to children of alumni or donors. Some private colleges, including Pomona and Occidental, have discontinued the tradition in recent years.

—Los Angeles Times

UN Security Council unanimously extends Kenya-led security mission in Haiti for a year

The United Nations Security Council voted unanimously Monday to extend for another year the mandate of the armed security mission helping Haiti fight armed gangs.

The 15-0 vote guarantees the presence of the Kenya-led Multinational Security Support mission in Haiti until October 2, 2025. But it doesn’t address a fundamental problem of the struggling effort: money.

The mission, which currently only has 410 foreign officers on the ground in Port-au-Prince, needs “substantial resources” for its deployment and sustained operations, said Kenya’s new envoy to the U.N., Erastus Ekitela Lokaale. He welcomed the vote, but appealed to U.N. member nations to make “voluntary contributions” to hasten the “full deployment and delivery of its mandate.”

“I must also emphasize that while the ... mission is a crucial and innovative intervention, it is only a part of the solution,” he said. “Haiti’s stability will only be accomplished through a multipronged approach that addresses the root causes of its challenges.”

—Miami Herald